Day 84 - Southward Car Museum

Today Chaggie had planned to check out the Southward Car Museum, cheap, easy and good if you love cars. Chaggie do love cars. Southward car museum house over 350 cars, as well as three aircraft, motorbikes etc. We had a chilled out morning, woken up by the strong Wellington winds. Chino caught up with his Dad on skype whilst Staggie managed his team: Newcastle on football manager, a record of 80 games unbeaten, before having lunch with Russell and Barbara at 12:30ish.

We headed to the Car museum just north of Paraparaumu, got there around 14:00ish, saw some pretty old cars. Bentley's, Aston Martin's, Austin's, Cadillac's, Chevrolet's, the might Citroen 2CV and many others. Was worth doing, we had previously done quite a bit in our last trip to Wellington.

This evening we were treated to another delicious meal by Russell and Barbara, a lovely chicken dish cooked by Russell followed by an Apple Crumble cooked by Barbara. Was a superb feast, we've planned for Chaggie to return the favour and cook them both a meal tomorrow night. The pressure's on.

We had a chilled out evening tonight, Chino's cold wasn't getting any better but a warm, lemon drink did some good. Staggie continued his fantastic efforts in sending Newcastle to the top of the prem, 'How I Met Your Mother' was also watched.

Chaggie x

Day 83 - Hello North Island

We once again left Eleanor's this morning at 10:00, we'll miss her very much. It was time for our trip back to the North Island, was certainly going to be pretty weird.

We got to Picton at 12:15, got an ice cream and chilled out waiting for our Ferry check in time. At 13:15 we went to check in, fortunately there were still spaces on the next Ferry, which was set to leave in 5 minutes, fantastic.

So on an hour earlier ferry, we headed back to Wellington. Felt like ages ago when we were last on it. At 16:00 we got off the Inter Islander Ferry and back onto Wellington ground. We headed to Russell and Barbara Marshall's in Porirua, Russell being one of Staggie's second cousins.

We spent the evening with Russell and Barbara in their lovely home looking out on Wellington's bay. They prepared a delicious 3 course meal for us, Soup followed by Venison and finished with Strawberries and Ice Cream.

Tonight Chaggie watched the cricket and the Tennis final cheering on Murray, shame.

'How I Met Your Mother' was watched this evening before getting some sleep around 01:00.

Chaggie x

Day 82 - A Day at Eleanor's

Today we had no rush to get up, Chino woke up at 09:00 and caught up with his Dad, Grandparents and friends on skype, it had been a while.

Staggie woke up around 11 for breakfast. Today we washed the car, a well needed wash, Brian was pleased. Staggie went shopping with Eleanor and managed to get some pretty decent shorts for a good deal.

It was a chilled out day today, was good to spend some time with Eleanor too, she cooked us bangers and mash in the evening, a meal Chaggie hadn't had for so long.

We stayed up tonight, watching the Graham Norton show as well as other comedy.

We're now ready for our return ferry journey tomorrow to the North Island.

Chaggie x

Day 81 - Our Return To Eleanor's

It had been just less than a month since we had been in Motueka for Christmas, we checked out of YHA at 10:00 and headed to Eleanor's, we couldn't wait.

We stopped off in Hokitika along the way to have breakfast, Staggie had bought croissants and a mars bar, so a mars bar croissant it was. It was a long drive to Motueka, we didn't arrive till 16:30ish.

The Drive To Motueka

It was fantastic to see Eleanor again, there was a lot of catching up to do telling her what we had been up to the last few weeks. A lot.

We spent the evening with Eleanor, she cooked us a great meal; Steak for Staggie and a Chilli con carne for Chino. Delicious. We stayed up to some TV, caught up on the blog and organised our itinerary.

Was certainly good to be back.

Chaggie x

Day 80 - Franz Josef Glacier Hike

Today was our Glacier hike, we were looking forward to it. Chino woke up with his cold that was still pretty rough. Luckily we had only got the half day trip in store.

We had a lay in till 11:00, was well needed. Then checked in for the trip at 12:30, we got our gear including boots, crampons, rain jacket, trousers, warm socks and gloves. We changed into it all and caught the bus to the glacier. Today had a lot of walking, due to the Glacier receding, it was a 2.5km walk, not what Chino wanted to hear.

That got us to the glacier, the next part was pretty amazing. We attached our crampons to our boots and headed up the glacier, was an experience we won't forget. This country has so much to offer, earlier on in the week we were in Queenstown on a hot summers day, the next after just a few hours of driving your on a glacier hike.

We had a couple of hours on the ice, making sure lots of photos and video were taken. Was a really good trip, the half day was the best decision. It was a long walk back to the bus, we got back to YHA at 18:00ish. Made some dinner around 21:00, same as last night using left overs, after dinner we had a game of pool and chilled out for the rest of the night.

Chaggie x

Day 79 - To Franz Josef

We headed to Franz Josef today leaving at 10:00ish. We stopped off just outside of Wanaka at a 'Puzzle World', a place recommended to do by a guy Chino met at his bungee jump. The best $10 you could spend, very cheap. It was pretty cool, lots of illusions, 3D stuff etc. One trick was walking into a room, one side of it Chino was naturally taller than Phill, go to the other side of the room and Staggie will look twice the size of Chino, pretty crazy stuff.

We tested ourselves by going round a Maze afterwards, we had to find all 4 corners and then the exit, this took roughly 30minutes, any longer and we'd have dropped to the floor screaming to get out. Didn't take us long to remember why we hate Mazes.

We continued our journey onto Franz Josef, the drive wasn't a good one, the weather was crap with rain pouring down most of the way. Getting close to Glacier country, the fog once again prevented us from seeing what was probably some good scenery.

We got to Franz Josef at 16:30 and checked into YHA Backpackers, found ourselves in a room with 3 women, made our day. We chilled out this evening at YHA, can't think why. Tonight we bought pasta for one of Staggie's best dishes for dinner.

Chaggie x

Day 78 - Canyoning in Wanaka

Today Chaggie were set for a full day of Canyoning in Wanaka down the Niger Falls. After a quick breakfast at a cafe by the lake we were picked up outside Base Backpackers at 09:00 so an early start. We were taken just 5 minutes down the road, if we had known the office was that close we may not have bothered with the lift (who am I kidding). We paid for our trip and met our guide called Millie along with the rest of the group we were going to be Canyoning with.

We got taken to Niger falls, a 45 minute drive where we got our gear including shoes, wet suits, socks, helmets and warm clothing underneath. The water was going to be pretty damn cold at 12 degrees roughly. We then found out we would be walking up a steep hill in order to get to the top where our trip down the canyon starts. This took about 20 minutes, we had a practice run with Millie at the top, making sure we got the grips of Abseiling etc.

Today's trip consisted of Abseiling, Zip wires, Sliding down natural rock slides and jumping. All down a Canyon looking over some pretty cool scenery. Was a fantastic trip, the groups were small so we were constantly on the move, a good full day trip. It ended with a pretty big jump, done at your own risk as there is only one spot that's deep enough. Chino couldn't say no, got it in one..phew.

We got changed once we were back at the bottom of the canyon, had a bite to eat and headed back to Base. This evening we planned to meet up with Helen and Jim who we met up with yesterday. We met up with them at their home in Wanaka, Helen had cooked us a fantastic roast Lamb, a perfect meal. We headed back to Base at 22:00, got in and watched a little 'How I Met Your Mother' before bed.

Chaggie x

Day 77 - To Wanaka

Was an early start this morning, a 9am wake up call, it wasn't appreciated but our checkout time was 10:00. Everyone else got up to see Chaggie go, something we're still surprised about. We made some great mates, may be in contact with us during their travels to England. We said goodbye to them including Gavin, Shaun and Raymond.

Chaggie checked the address to Wanaka and packed the car once again. We drove over the Crown range out of Queenstown to get to Wanaka this morning, leaving at about 10:30 and getting there around 11:30, not too long a drive. We found a free car park and made our way into Base Wanaka. Checkout time was not till 14:00 though so Chaggie had to find stuff to do till then.

We booked Canyoning for tomorrow and uploaded all the recent photos etc, good to be a little more organised again. We then went and got some lunch and ate around Lake Wanaka, today was such a hot day too. Chino started feeding the ducks, making sure none was passed to the Seagulls, within seconds our bench was surrounded by dozens of Ducks and other birds.

Staggies Dad had earlier sent us contact details with some family friends who live in Wanaka. We got in contact and planned to meet up for a drink a little later on. It got to 14:00 and we checked in, we were the first people to arrive in our 6 bedroom dorm. For the first time in a week we had more than one socket in the room too, our phones and cameras were soon on charge.

At 18:00 we got our passports out and headed to the pub that we arranged to meet Helen and Jim at, Helen is the sister of Staggie's cousin's wife; Linda. We will be later meeting Linda and Murray (Staggie's Cousin) in our travels. We had a couple of drinks with them, weren't surprised to find out that they were also very nice people. Our streak of meeting amazingly nice people still continues. They even invited us for dinner tomorrow evening.

This evening once Helen and Jim had gone, Chaggie went and got a Kebab and chips. Got back to Base at 21:00 tonight, Chino got hold of Russ and made contact with one of the uni's he is applying to about an interview date that needs to be rearranged.

This evening was chilled out watching 'How I Met Your Mother' in our room with a Dutch guy.

Chaggie x

Day 76 - Chilling out with Dave and Maryann

Today we didn't wake up till 12:00, even then it was to the sound of our phone ringing. Earlier on in the week we had made plans to see Dave and Maryann before our departure to Wanaka tomorrow morning. It was Maryann on the phone to say we could pop over for a bite to eat at 15:30.

Didn't get up to much till then, we watched 'Cool Runnings' with the rest of the guys before heading out. Once we got to Dave and Maryann's home in Frankton again, we were excited to see Scones being cooked by Maryann. They were much appreciated, should keep us filled till the early hours of the morning.

It was great to catch up with them, telling them about our weeks antics and experiences. We said our goodbyes and headed off back to Base at 17:00. We did the usual, stocked up on beer, chilled out with the rest of the guys, Gavin, Shaun and Raymond. At 19:30 we went and played some pool, we're getting good at it now. Unfortunately this evening, Staggie just couldn't do much about his 5-0 losing streak. Chino was certainly on form, will he ever let this go?

This evening we had pre-drinks again, everyone started about 22:30, a group of people. There was more french this evening as well as the same from the previous nights. We got to Buffalo where a few of us had a couple more games of Pool. Staggie and Shaun vs Raymond and Chino. A tough, slow match won by Staggie. A few jagerbombs later, we headed to another club and ended up there for the rest of the evening. A few more drinks and a 'Fergburger' later, we headed back to Base.

Chino went online for a bit and made a couple of calls back at home whilst Staggie and the others headed back to room 316 to watch some 'Family Guy'. Chino got upstairs around 05:00, found Family Guy running with everyone passed out asleep, someone was already sleeping in his bed, so a spare one did the job. Didn't take too long to get to sleep. Another good night, some good memories.

Chaggie x

Day 75 - No Time for a Hangover...Get Jet Boating!!

We woke up at 10:00 this morning, a messy night out. Chino looked around to see who had made it back to their beds for the night. Was a full room, more people than checked in even. Always a sign of a good night. One problem Chino soon found was reaching into his jeans pockets, to find his wallet but no passport. His lay in had to be cancelled, he immediately got changed and went to find it, looking in the places he believed he was at last night including 'Buffalo Club', 'Fergburger' and the Base Reception, Buffalo was closed and the other two didn't have it.

After a while of stressing out, he realised there was nothing else he could do, there was one place still left to check which was Buffalo, doesn't open till 16:00 though. After a lot of thinking, he looked on the bright side and thought much worse can happen, he was still fit and eager for the Jet Boating at 12:00! Besides, losing a Passport can be fixed, you can laugh at these things ey? Staggie was surprised he was still up for the Jet Boating, we got ready and headed off to the 'Station Building' for 11:50 to check in.

We got onto the Shotover bus at 12:00 and drove to the Shotover river about 10 minutes away. We got straight into it and got a life jacket, we were in the boat for about 20 minutes, 360 degree spins, scraping past rocks and cliffs at rapid speeds of 80kmph. It was insane.

We had lunch at a cafe, got a pie and wedges, certainly filled us up (the 'Fergburger' we ate in the early hours of the morning was forgotten about). We got back to Base and chilled out with our room-mates, who had only just woken up. Chino had a nap whilst Staggie went online. At 16:00 Chino made sure he was at the entrance of Buffalo, fingers crossed. He went up to the bar and asked if they had a passport found from last night, they DID!! Only one and yes it belonged to Alexander Lloyd. What a relief it was! You know what that means!....A night out to celebrate!

It really put Chino in a good mood as you can imagine, without that there would have been quite a few stressful problems, not yet had it hit Chino's head what would have happened if Buffalo hadn't got it. Not to worry though, they did!

We hung out in our room till 20:00, hung out with Gav and Shaun, listened to Pilk's (Karl Pilkington) etc. Chino went up and bought some beer for the evening, Staggie had a bottle of wine left over from last night. Buying top-up for our kiwi mobile phone too, we were ready to head out. We went to the Pool bar for a couple of pints and a few games of pool. We met a few Irish guys who had been drinking since this morning, wanted to have a few games with us. How could we so no to an opportunity of beating 3 drunk Irish men? Well we took it, one was actually amazing at it, used to play competitively. We played a doubles game and Chino was on form scraping the win with the most fluky shot! Hit the last spot in, then bounced and hit the Black in on the rebound. Chino then played the Irish guy who used to play competitively, got so close to beating him but lost on the black, why did he say yes to playing for a shot! Was a good session, Chino ended up losing 8 dollars to buying the guy a drink but was a fun evening. We later went to our room for pre-drinks, same as last night, the room was packed. Chaggie got drinking, showered and met a few others this evening before heading out at 01:30.

By the time we even left the Backpackers, some of the clubs were already closed!

Was another great night and yes it ended with a 'Fergburger'.



Chaggie x

Day 74 - Glenorchy

Slow start to the day this morning, Chino contacted some of his friends from home. Staggie was on form managing his football team on 'Football Manager', 60 games unbeaten, quite an effort there. We hung out with Gavin and Shaun for a while, roaming around Queenstown (difficult to find stuff to do here that's not spending money!).

At 14:00 Chaggie thought to go for a drive to 'Glenorchy', a recommended drive for all the scenery it offers. It did impress us. We bought some lunch before getting there, a loaf of cheesy bread did the job. In terms of stuff to do in Glenorchy, there wasn't much, Chino found some good opportunities to do some filming though. On the way back we stopped off at a beach, the sun was out so we chilled out on the stone beach for a bit. Skimmed some stones, played a little beach cricket, good stuff.

We drove back to Queenstown around 17:00, drove straight through though and continued to 'The Remarkables' where we planned to drive up the iconic mountains. We got up pretty high and had fantastic views of Queenstown and Frankton as well as Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains.

Once we got back to our Backpackers, Chino planned out a schedule for this evening. We bought 2 bottles of wine for $15, the cheapest alcohol going and bloody good wine. Certainly did the job a little later on. We smuggled the alcohol back into our rooms and poured it into a bottle. We chilled out for a bit before hitting a Pool Bar at 21:00, we had started drinking by this point. We had a couple of rounds at the Pool Bar, Phill beat Chino 3-2 at Pool (flukey git!). It was a good session, we had got back to Base at 22:00, Chino went and had a shower whilst Staggie chilled out and had pre-drinks with the rest of the lads in our room. Room 316 certainly seemed to be the room to be in, we had a few French people, a few Canadians, Gavin, Shaun, another Brit and Chaggie, all drinking in an 8 bedroom dorm. Was a pretty good pre-drinks session, you meet a lot of people from all over the place with different stories.

We hit a club called 'Buffalo' this evening, one of the popular clubs to go to in Queenstown. Was a little blurry to Chino though, should never have opened that second bottle of wine. Was a wicked night though, ending with a 'Fergburger' in the early hours of the morning.

Chaggie x

Day 73 - Milford Sound Trip

The day started early for Chaggie with a 7am wake up call. We were looking forward to checking out the Milford Sound which is one of the most spectacular places in New Zealand.

Things never seem to go as smoothly as they should for Chaggie sometimes though (as you all know), this morning was another classic example. After booking our trip at a discounted offer off 'bookme.co.nz', we received an email saying we had to be outside 'The Station' building in the centre of Queenstown for just after 08.00. We ended up standing there for half an hour, seeing our tour bus drive past twice, the second time it passed we knew something was wrong. We ran back to Base to check the email again and it definately said meet at The Station building. However, Chino rang up the company and they said they had been waiting outside our backpackers for us! What we were not aware of was that, after putting our address in when booking the trip, the company would pick you up from there but nothing was written on the email or anything about that! However, a car was sent out to us and we were taken to where the bus had just picked someone up and we were able to hop on before it set off to the Milford Sound! Phew!

It was quite a treck to Milford Sound which is over 120km away from Queenstown. We stopped off in various places to take photos and to have a tea/coffee stop, as well as catching up on some sleep throughout the journey.



We eventually got to the cruise port just before 15:00.. that shows how long the journey was! Staggie immediately recognised the port as he also came here a decade ago with his family! The cruise took about 1hr 45mins and our tour company also provided us with lunch! Lovely jubbly! The Milford Sound really is a special place, with mountains dominating everything around you as you cruise along, the odd waterfall casually falling into the lake/sea. The mountains were formed by a glacier over 1500 years ago I seem to remember being told, so again, we can educate you! It really is quite a sight, not only do we enjoy it but the seals and dolphins too. Sadly we didn't have the nicest of days for it weather wise but it doesn't affect the views too much.

We headed back towards Queenstown at around 17.00 and stopped off in a place called 'Mossburn' to have fish and chips, again provided by the tour company. This was turning out to be an absolute bargain for $79 (40 quid)!! We eventually got back to Base at 21.00 so it has been a long day for Chaggie. We probably won't hit the town tonight, and save ourselves for Friday, Saturday and I'm sure we can squeeze in Sunday too!



Chaggie x

Day 72 - Chino does a bungy!

Staggie and I both experienced a different nights sleep last night, Being on top bunk, Staggie couldn't get to sleep for ages due to the temperature. I on the other hand had a wicked sleep, one of those sleeps where you wake up a few times in the night and morning thinking its almost time to wake up, you then realise you have plenty more time of sleep left! Quality sleep.

I had my alarm set for 10:30, today was the day of my Bungy Jump. With a good nights rest, I showered, trying not to think about what I will soon be doing too much! It got to 11:20, everyone else in the room were still asleep including Staggie, I was psyching myself up with some Ricky Gervais comedy, not sure how it psyches someone up but it kept my mind off it all. 

I left and checked in further up the road at the 'Station Building'. Once I had checked in, I stood on some scales, pretty important part to Bungy Jumping really. Don't want to be colliding into the ground now. I had a chance with the free internet included to upload a quick status notification to friends and family before catching the bus at 12:00. There were quite a few people, the bus dropped half off at the 'Kawarau Bridge', before carrying on with the rest to the 'Nevis Bungy Jump'. The 'Kawarau Bridge' was where Bungy Jumping was invented by AJ Hackett, at 43 metres high, I realised how big the jump I was about to do was going to be. I think the butterflies couldn't be stopped around this point. I've bigged myself up too much to family and friends now though, I have to do it and my mind set was completely on that. Lets see the height of it first hey. 

It took about 40 minutes to get to the Nevis Bungy Jump area from Queenstown, towards the end the sudden uphill incline was pretty obvious, we were going up pretty high. I met a few guys, all about to do the same jump, one had done it before, the others were bricking it just as much as I was. Once we got off the bus, I shared a locker with the guys, saving me a dollar, cheap-skate lads. I made a quick toilet break (thought it was best to do before hand) before getting harnessed up. Once this was done, I was told to head out round the side, little did I know that that was it and I was now about to be chosen as part of the first group to catch the sky-rail to the centre jump spot, half way between the canyon. 

Its 5 people maximum on the sky-rail, not including the jump guides. We were told the order of who was jumping was determined by heaviest first, I quickly looked around at the others jumping to find myself with 3 girls and one lad, all smaller than I was by quite a bit. Oh S**t, was what came to mind. "I guess that makes me first". 

The staff had already got a card with my weight and name on it, the information all passed over by earlier. So first things first, we got onto the central base, just hanging in the middle of the canyon with a ledge at the front. One guy strapped my calfs up, I then got called up to the front. My heart was obviously pumping, already we had all looked down, it was impossible not to when you have to catch a slow sky-rail to get you there! Then there's glass floor panels also which never helps!! I had the bungy cord strapped to what had already been strapped around my calfs, all happened so quickly and wasn't checked over a second time. I had my photo taken very quickly too, looked up, snap, done, time for jump. I was helped up by the guide and slowly taken to the ledge, at this point my legs were strapped together so I had to waddle there. 

Making sure my toes were over the ledge, I looked down. Oops. 134 metres up high and about to jump, "on the count of 3....3....2.....1....Jump!" My mind was empty, my legs did all the work and dived off the ledge, its that point your mind says "what the hell have you done!". I couldn't help but yell out a girlie scream on the way down, it was an incredible feeling. Much alike the feeling of free falling at 16,500 feet, just quite a lot closer to the ground. In that way it was more thrilling, falling for 8 seconds before bouncing straight back up. By the second bounce, I had to reach up to my legs and pull a cord with a red stripe around it. Pulling this let my legs go, don't worry, my body was harnessed up too, I just wasn't upside down any longer. I slowly got pulled back up towards the base, "how was that dude?", "Great, just get me off" was all I could reply, with nothing but a bungy cord holding my weight (hard to imagine I know). 

It was over, over too soon! It was amazing, so glad I did it, would I do it again? Definitely, the adrenaline took a while to calm down. I watched others do their jump for about an hour, filming as much footage as I could. It was about a couple of hours until I caught the bus back to Queenstown, I made sure I had photos and video as proof of doing the Nevis Bungy. The guys I had met; Dan, Joe and Tom were all keen for a 'Fergburger', Staggie and I joined them.

This afternoon Chaggie went for a drive to 'Arrowtown', we checked out the historic town before heading back to Base. We had a curry later on this evening, a classic Korma. Chino made sure all the photos and video were on his laptop. Another night of chilling out ready for a busy day and early start tomorrow. Our eagerness for going out in the evening continues. 

Chaggie x

Day 71 - Base Backpackers again

Chino woke up at 09:00 this morning to speak to Russ (Daddy Chino), his Nan and Gramps. Staggie soon woke up after a lay in, got online and uploaded our recent photos.

Sadly, today's weather was shocking, so we spent most of the morning sorting out our week in Queenstown, booking bits and bobs to do for the week. Due to the weather, we couldn't get in the car and drive around as we wouldn't be able to see much. So a morning of organisation was in order!

We had lunch with Dave and Maryann before packing, we then set off to Base Backpackers at around 16.30 in the middle of town. We checked ourselves in and met our room mates, didn't talk too much at first, soon we all chilled out and watched Team America, absolutely superb film and a great way to start conversations (Dirka Dirka)!

Once Team America was finished, Chaggie had to move the car to a free car park for the night. It started to tip down so we ended up in the car for a good half hour before it stopped. We took a look around town, bought tickets to go Jet Boating on Saturday, then headed back to Base. Chino had a few calls to make whilst Staggie went online. We later headed to a burger place called 'Fergburger', it is well known in and around Queenstown for its huge and delicious burgers (we would have preferred them if drunk of course but we could definately see the reason for their popularity)!

We spent the evening in our room, got chatting with some of our room mates. A Scotsman named Gavin and a Canadian called Shaun, who have apparently been out quite a few nights non-stop, so were looking forward to chilling out. Chaggie thought it would be best after the amount of money spent over the last couple of days on attractions and extreme sports if we had a chilled out night too. We listened to a lot of Karl Pilkington this evening before getting into bed.

Chino is doing the Nevis Bungy Jump tomorrow (134m) so that is something to look forward too!

Chaggie x

Day 70 - Skyline Gondola and Luge

Chaggie woke up to the most wonderful view this morning, as 'The Remarkables' dominated the skyline over Lake Wakatipu. The sun was shining and it was going to be a fantastic day weather wise!
Maryann had organised that Chaggie could get on the Gondola up to the Skyline centre for free, including 5 free rides each for Chaggie on the Luge that they have up there!

After having breakfast, Chaggie set off to Skyline at around 11.30. We took a nice drive through Queenstown to see what it was like, Staggie couldn't remember as it has been 10 years since he was last here! Queenstown isn't known for its size, not at all but the surrounding areas is where it gets it's name put on the map and is one of the top tourist destinations in New Zealand in the summer and in the winter due to the ski fields on the mountains surrounding it.

We got to the Skyline at around midday, collected our free tickets and headed up the gondola to the top to the Skyline centre, which offers a luge ride and restaurant amongst other things but Chaggie were here for the luge.. which looked epic. Staggie can remember going down the luge a decade ago with his Dad and can remember getting cramp in his arms due to the strain the luge carts put on his arms.. lets hope that doesn't happen this time hey!

We got our helmets and got on the chairlift to the top of the luge. We had to do the sceinic route due to it being our first ride, which is compulsory for anyone of any level of ability and it wasn't that amazing, with families holding you up, so we thought, screw this, we are going to bomb it down the advanced slope.. bring it on! It was pretty rapid in all fairness but a huge amount of fun. On the last ride of our 5, we decided to hardly use our breaks, Staggie decided not to at all on the first bend, which is rather quick and very tight and ended up going on two wheels but luckerly managed to recover, he claims it was expert driving.

After our last ride, we bought ourselves two photos of our exploits before heading to the luge resturant for lunch. We then headed back to the bottom, where they had a Kiwi enclosure offering a $10 discount and guarenteeing us a look at some Kiwi's.. so we thought, lets do it! And, like they said, we saw some Kiwi's, four to be precise. Sadly Chaggie couldn't get photo's as it was too dark as they are nocturnal animals but Chino did manage to get some video footage! They really are fascinating creatures. There were also other types of birds and animals in the sanctuary, we have visited quite a few sanctuaries but this one had different species to what we've already seen. We then got to see a show at 15.00 which included skillful birds, which was pretty good to see.

We headed back to Dave and Maryann's in the evening and had the biggest burgers we have ever had, they were sensational! It was a fairly chilled out evening before we all decided to head to bed at around 23.00.
We are off to our Backpackers tomorrow, which we are both looking forward too but at the same time sad to leave Dave and Maryann who have been wonderful!

Chaggie x

Day 69 - Destination: QUEENSTOWN! (Sunday 16th Januray)

Today was the day we headed off to (in Staggie's opinion) the best looking town in New Zealand, if not the world. Expectations were high then for Chino, Staggie had no worries.

We rose at around 10:00 at Helen and Matt's after another late night, we were planning to go to the Cadbury factory in Dunedin at 12:00 before heading off to Queenstown, however, firstly we found out we had to book our tour in advance and then we found they don't do the full tour on Sunday's! Typical, as soon as the American's take over, things get difficult! Shame.

So instead of stuffing our face's with delicious chocolate, we hung around Helen and Matt's, watching the cricket and ensuring we were fully packed before heading to Queenstown. We finally departed just after 3, filled up Brian with petrol and set off on our 3 hour 40 minute journey through Hobbit country.
The journey took us through some fantastic scenery and we could see why Lord of the Rings was filmed here, it was just like driving to Mordor, not Queenstown.. I know where I'd rather be driving to!

We arrived at Staggie's Dad's old friends (Dave and Maryann) to the most amazing view you could wish for. Their house looks over Lake Wakatipu and the mountain range called the Remarkables (they certainly are). Chaggie would be here for two days before heading to Base Backpackers in the centre of Queenstown. Dave and Maryann's house really is wonderful and is situated about 6km (3ish miles) out of the town, this has to be the most picturesque place we are staying at and likely to stay at during our whole trip.
Dave and Maryann cooked us a BBQ in the evening, as we ate we looked out towards the magnificent Remarkables. Sensational!

Staggie was adimant he was going to stay up to watch the Tyne-Wear derby between Sunderland and Newcastle at about 1am our time, so he stayed up for it, of course! Staggie has been writing his own blog whilst being here for anyone who doesn't know, writing about sporting incidents which he can use as a portfolio when potentially going into sports writing, the address is: http://www.staggietalkssport.blogspot.com/ - take a look!

Things were going superbly for Staggie and Newcastle as they were 1-0 going into stoppage time in Sunderland, but, devistatingly, Sunderland grabbed the jammiest of equalizers and shared the points in the 94th minute of the game! Staggie didn't sleep too well.

Tomorrow we plan to go on the Skyline Gondola and Luge centre which looks over Queenstown and is the company which Maryann works for. She is going to sort us out free tickets as well! Lovely Jubbly, it should be a good day out!

Chaggie x

Day 68 - Exploring Dunedin (Saturday 15th January)

After a fair few drinks last night, Chaggie rose at around 10.30 and planned to head off to the Albatross Coloney on the Otago Peninsula situated about half an hours drive out of Dunedin.

We set off at around 11.30 and before heading to the peninsula, we drove around the centre of Dunedin. Dunedin is a typically British city and the whole lay out is exactly the same as Edinburgh in Scotland, as Dunedin (Dùn Èideann) is the Scottish Gaelic for Edinburgh. See, we do educate as well as entertain on this blog!

We took a few photos of some eye catching monuments and buildings that Dunedin possesses. It's lay out reminded Chaggie a lot of home, with streets that were slightly smaller and buildings that you can associate within the UK. We hung around the city for about half an hour before heading off to the peninsula.

We arrived at the peninsula just before 13.00 after taking some superb photos of Dunedin from the hill side that looks over it. We knew that doing the Albatross tour would cost a fair bit of money, so we decided to try our luck to see if we could spot any around the car park and area surrounding the Albatross centre. Our luck was out. However, we did see Seals swimming in the sea at the bottom of the cliff face but we had already swam with Seals so that was old news. Just kidding, we've got plenty of time for seals.

We stayed at the Albatross centre for lunch, Chino had a burger and Staggie had lamb pie - excellent (or as kiwis pronounce it...eegcellent)! It seems pies aren't that popular over hear but they seem to always be in restaurants, oh well.

We set off back to Helen and Matt's at around 14.00 and got back at around half past. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the internet and also watching New Zealand vs Pakistan in the cricket with Matt. After that, we headed out for a meal with Helen, Matt and some of their friends. We finally decided to have Malaysian, after finding out the Japanese restaurant first intended was closed! Chaggie had Korma Curry, slighty different to Indian Korma, it didn't have as much flavour, well, it didn't taste like Indian Korma at all (Western Indian Korma's that is)! Oh well, it was still good.

After the Malaysian we headed to a Pool Bar to play... well Pool. Chaggie joined forces against the rest of the clan, and were un-beaten in 3 games with Chino certainly on form, we ended up losing the 4th.. some how!! Nevermind.

As we were heading off to Queenstown tomorrow, this was our only full day in Dunedin but we were impressed with the City and would recommend anyone who is coming to NZ to go and take a look at it, especially if you are from Edinburgh or have been there before!

Chaggie x

Day 67 - To Dunedin (Fri 14th Jan)

This morning was a reasonably early start, we left Chris and the family at around 09:00. We managed to say goodbye to Giles on his way to work and said our farewells to Chris. They gave us a fantastic week, was great to catch up with them all too. So after having some quick breakfast, we had packed our bags and left, Chaggie were back on the road.

Chino was nominated to drive this mornings route to Oamaru. It was a long and tiring drive, we hadn't been used to getting up at 08:00 for the last week. We got to Oamaru at 12:30ish and looked out for somewhere good to eat, along the high street most of the buildings have been noticeably built with Oamaru stone, a big, chunky sand coloured stone. Before lunch though our first intentions when arriving to Oamaru was to find Graeme Stagg's first house on Tay Street, it took a few steep hills to get there. We don't know whether its changed much over the years but it looked to be a nice property looking out on some very nice views of Oamaru and the coast. It's also currently looking to be sold, any takers? Our next building to find was Oamaru Hospital, for Staggie to take a quick photo of where his Dad was born.

Once our quick bit of historical sight seeing was done, we had lunch on the high street and walked along the coast. We got back to our car and drove to Oamaru Gardens. Not only was it a good place to eat but Phill also found the statue his Aunty Eleanor once ran away to when she was little. The Peter Pan statue.

After lunch we checked out some of the Penguin Colonies Oamaru have, we drove to two sites where they are known to live. Unfortunately on both occasions we were unlucky to spot any, they must have been out. So we continued our journey to Dunedin, still though with a couple of stop off's previously arranged. On the way down the coast we stopped off at Moeraki, to check out the famous 'Moeraki Boulders'. Huge spherical stones originally formed some 60 million years ago. Up to three metres and weighing several tonnes, we got a picture on top of them.

Next in line was to visit Shag Point. Yes, we just wanted to get a picture of the signpost. With a lot of driving that had been done to get here though, we made a stop and checked out the Seal Colony they have, this time we were fortunate to see the colony. Chaggie were the only ones there and got pretty damn close to one of them without realising, Chino was checking out one about 10 metres away where all of a sudden he realised there was one just a metre away from him asleep. We thought it was then best to head off.

We got to Dunedin this evening at around 17:00 and arrived at one of Staggie's second cousins house. She arrived too just minutes after we got there, it was the first time Phill had met her. She was very friendly and told us to make ourselves at home. We unpacked and chose our rooms, lucky to get our own room each. Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. The Dunedin urban area lies on the central-eastern coast of Otago, surrounding the Otago Harbour. The harbour and hills around Dunedin are very picturesque, in some ways Chaggie did feel back at home with the town and buildings looking quite British. Chaggie were impressed with how close everything is, we're staying in South Dunedin and are only a few minutes from town and the harbour. We went out this evening with Helen and met her partner Matt and work colleagues out in town. We visited quite a few bars, the weather was hot and it was pretty busy. We headed back to Helen and Matt's place after popping into a supermarket to get some more beer. A little later on for something to eat, Helen made us some nachos which were hugely appreciated. Later on this evening friends of Helen and Matt's came to stay, a former room-mate with his girlfriend. We all headed up to a nearby pub by the beach and had another beer.

It wasn't too late a night but we were all pretty drunk so we headed back to watch England play 20-20 against Australia on TV.

Chaggie x